And, hey, I’m on a blogcation, you’re probably on vacation too. So here’s some reading material for the beach, backyard or cottage!

SCIENCEDarwin’s Island: The Galapagos in the Garden of England by Steve Jones (Little, Brown £20) Enthralling life leads us through Darwin’s entire 40-year career after the Beagle’s return from the Galapagos islands.

Bad Science by Ben Goldacre (HarperPerennial £8.99) Brilliantly debunks faddy scientific “breakthroughs” and exposes the barefaced fraudulence of fringe medicine; read this book and you won’t get fooled again.

13 Things That Don’t Make Sense: The Most Intriguing Scientific Mysteries of Our Times by Michael Brooks (Profile £12.99) From alien signals to sex and death, a fascinating and accessible look at the puzzles that science can’t explain.